11:20am Thursday 7th August 2008
By Emma Clayton
Shoppers, weighed down with carrier bags, trudge through snowy streets on their return from a supermarket trip. A crowd gathers around the chaotic scene of a road accident. And a group of colourfully-dressed guests make their way through the ginnel of a Victorian house to a Pakistani wedding.
They are striking images captured on canvas by artist Scott Buchanan Barden, left, in his new exhibition, called simply ‘Bradford’.
The new oil paintings will sit alongside Scott’s previous artworks that have been exhibited around the district.
Keen to capture scenes and buildings around the city before they disappear for good, Scott says he’s “passionate about Bradford’s architecture and ethnically-diverse population.”
“These are themes that have dominated my art over the past two years,” he says. “I see the city’s architecture and cultural inheritance as much maligned – not only by outsiders, but by many of its own residents. My recent art is not a mission to change such perceptions, but simply a very personal response to what I see around me.
“Whether I’m capturing scenes of Bradford that may soon disappear, or the way faded Victorian façades have been adapted in hotch-potch fashion to reflect new commercial uses, I’m constantly struck by the city’s remarkable vibrancy and rich diversity.”
Great Horton-based Scott says that by taking a bird’s eye view rather than a street-level vista, he’s able to encapsulate the “merry madcap homogeneity of what makes this place tick and what makes it the community it is.”
“What matters to me is the feeling that, through art, I can touch the soul of the place – good or bad, beautiful or ugly, tended or neglected – that I have chosen to call home,” he says.
Scott’s new work, currently on display at The Love Apple Café in Bradford, has developed this theme. “I’ve always loved the work of the great 16th century Flemish master, Pieter Breugel the elder, and recently decided to experiment with how Breugel might have treated what I see of my adopted city,” he says.
“In the depiction of a Pakistani wedding I’m recording in my own personal way a local wedding just as Breugel did in his time. In my painting The Return Of The Hunters there is also a reference to Bruegel’s art, in this case the painting Hunters In The Snow.
“In my painting we see Bradfordians returning home in the snow, laden with carrier bags from their trip to the local supermarket, with nearby trees despoiled by discarded carrier bags.
“These shoppers, without Breugel’s bows and arrows, are the hunter-gatherers of today. The painting is a sociological commentary suggesting the environmental impact of this way of life.”
Bruegel’s spirit is also present in Scott’s version of the Massacre Of The Innocents.
“Breugel’s original portrayed the cruel acts of Spanish overlords on the Flemish people,” says Scott. “I have depicted the injuries and fatalities inflicted on Bradford by careless Bradford motorists.”
Scott’s imaginative, thought-provoking images of Bradford are close to his heart. Through painting, he’s keen to preserve places for future generations.
A previous exhibition of Scott’s vibrant expressionist oil paintings, depicting everything from urban streets to a Victorian cemetery, was aptly-titled When It’s Gone It’s Gone!
It was followed by an exhibition of paintings of Thornton, Clayton and Great Horton called Three Bradford Villages. The paintings include Coffin House and Backfield in Thornton and Great Horton Methodist Church. “I love the architecture, atmosphere and cultures of Bradford, and I particularly like to capture architectural views of the many diverse streets around where I live,” says Scott. “The views are great because the setting is so hilly, giving me a bird’s eye view of the city. Part of my intention is to capture scenes of Bradford that may not be here for much longer, such as Great Horton Methodist Church Cemetery. It’s an architectural gem, a wildlife oasis with many old gravestones and trees.”
As well as landmarks, Scott is also keen to paint the diversity of the district’s houses.
“Bradford has a wealth of Regency, Victorian, Edwardian, Art Deco and other styles of architecture that has been much neglected and overlooked. The people of Bradford should be proud of its heritage which is as great, and often greater, than many other places,” he says.
Scott, who has had work exhibited around the world, looks for beauty in daily life. “Prettiness doesn’t enter the equation,” he says. “A patchwork quilt of washing on clothes lines draped from balconies on tenements in Catalonia or the hub-bub of Kelso’s town square in the Scottish borders is just as beautiful and fascinating as the medieval Guildhall in Lavenham.”
Scott’s exhibition, Bradford, runs at The Love Apple Café, Great Horton Road, Bradford, until Friday, September 26. For more about his artwork visit scottbardenart.com
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